Back a hundred years ago when I started with TPC, I was advised not to screw UP, and I’d have a “job for life”.  (That’s not exactly the way it was phrased, and all you Bell Heads out there will know EXACTLY how it was, but you get the point.)

Essentially, I did.  Have a job for life that is, not screw UP.

I’m sure I screwed UP many times, but not in a big enough way to cost me my job or my career.

I was lucky for 30 years, escaped layoffs, down-sizings, survived divestiture (the break UP of the Real AT&T for those who were born after 1984), several economic downturns, technology advances, and on and on and on…I was lucky.  I had a job for 30 years, or life.

I never understood career hoppers, I was much more interested in ’security’

I escaped in 2001 with a pension intact, a part  little bit trace  smidge of my 401k left, and benefits – for life.

It’s a good thing.

Things just aren’t that way anymore.

Unless you’re in education – and that’s looking iffy,  law-enforcement, or medicine, you will probably have to change careers once or more in your life time.

Some jobs we thought would be around forever just won’t be.

So, we have to say good bye.

Bank tellers come to mind.  With direct deposit, which is required by many employers, ATM cards, Check Cards, and Credit Cards, who needs to go to the bank?

It’s kinda sad, I remember going to the bank with Dad when I was a boy.  Mr. Oblinger, the bank President, treated us both like we were his largest depositors.  We weren’t.  Seriously, we weren’t!  They had candy on the counter for the taking.  The Bank Tellers always offered me some.  It was an adventure.  And it’s going away.

No one has the title ‘file clerk’ any longer.  Imaging and faxes and email have seen to that.  Everything is scanned.  Our copier not only copies, it scans, and sends to corporate.  Pretty amazing really.  Image over light.  (Thank you Alexander Graham Bell, he didn’t invent it, but he talked about it over 100 years ago.)

Very Jetsons and all.

And wouldn’t you just love to hear a voice when you call a company?  “Press 1 for English” instantly makes me want to shop elsewhere. 

Answer the phone, say “thanks for calling” and ask me how I’d like my call directed.  Don’t put me into Voice Mail Hell.

So we are saying goodbye to telephone operators.  Voice mail and call routing are taking jobs away. 

Data entry clerks are no longer necessary.  Every teenager can type, even if they can’t spell.   Back at Ohio Bell, we had a room full of people who were “order entry clerks”.  Or data clerks.  We wrote the order with codes in the business office and sent it to order entry, via the mail boy.  Well, no longer.  5th or 6th generation software has allowed us to nuke that job and enter the order ourselves.

And speaking of the mail boy.  Most mail is electronic now, remember the old days when the mail boy came by, and people said,  ”I got my start in the mail room”.  Well no more, say ta ta to him too.  He’s going away, or already gone.  The guy on “Drop Dead Diva” who drops stuff off to the fancy schmancy lawyers; he doesn’t exist anymore.  Scanners, email, and photo processors make him obsolete.

Ever use a travel agent anymore?  Well, not for long.  Travel agents are being replaced by the internet, Priceline, Expedia, and the like.  These days only large corporations planning huge trips with hundred of employees use them.  And with the economy in the toilet, and it is, that’s not happening much. 

Unless you get bailout money from Washington.

What about a watch repairman, or watch sales man.  My first job was at B&L Jewelers in Germantown, Ohio.  John Brower was a true watchmaker, and a darn good one.

He hated Timex watches because they were “disposable”.  Now watches are fashion.  If you need to know the time, you can look on your I-pod, I-phone, I-computer, and soon, your eye-ball!   Unless it’s a Piaget or Rolex you can buy just about any watch  at Wal-Mart.  Nowadays, watch repair consists of replacing the battery!  Or shopping for a new one.

And video store clerks, well, bye-bye.  Netflix and On Demand have nuked those as well.

What I’m sayin’, things ain’t what they used to be.  That Summer job or part-time job may not be there.

And things are probably always gonna’ be changin!

So, be flexible, go to school, get an education.

You want to have a lot on your horizons.

What, did they run out of Ranch Dressing?

Some may say there are already enough changes in NASCAR, No more Winston, no more Dale Sr., no more Southern 500, and now this…no more wings, and add spoilers. 

That’s right, spoilers.

They are only minutes away from making  a small change to the cars, granted, it’s small, but it could drastically change and impact how the races go from here on out.  

Well, at least until they make more changes, which it seems they are never gonna’ stop doing.  They are going to replace the wings with spoilers.  Now, spoilers were not used in NASCAR until just a few years ago, and even though we thought we saw them in the 70’s, technically, I guess we didn’t. 

The drivers were complaing about the wings, and the fans sober enough to notice were as well.

Apparently, they reduce the maneuverability of the cars and make the races longer and boring.    Some lately have seemed like funeral processions.

The shift could come as early as this month.

NASCAR Prez. Mike Helton thinks the fans deserve a traditional race.  And recent research on spoilers has given the boys in Daytona a way to make it happen.

Well it’s about time.  Let’s think about the fans, afterall, they are paying for it. 

Who cares if the season is already underway.  Everyone wants to know if the change will impact the competition.

I realize this isn’t a huge game changing difference, like aluminum bats or Poodle Skirts on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, but the difference will be measureable and and the boys in the garages back home and the pits at the track will need a little tweak time to get things right. 

Could be interesteing.

And of course it isn’t the same caliber change as that “Car of Tomorrow ” crap we’re still having to deal with…look at Dale, JR.

With this change, some drivers feel the there are two seasons of NASCAR this year. 

But, you gotta’ hand it to them, they are giving the fans what they asked for.  Better, faster, and more interesting races.

And it’s about time.

Now, it’s UP to the drivers.

in 1836, 155 Texas Heroes and Freedom Fighters died in what is known as the Battle of The Alamo. 

In 1835 the Texan government dismissed its commander in chief, General Sam Houston, for recommending that the fort at San Antonio be abandoned. Lieutenant Colonel William Barret Travis and James Bowie (of the Bowie Knife Fame) were placed in command of about 155 men at the Alamo.

When Mexican General Santa Anna showed up with between 3,000 and 4,000 Mexican troops, the Alamo heroes were able to hold off from February 23 until March 06.

The odds being what they were, there were no survivors, with the exception of 30 non-combatants, the Texas Spirit and the will of the Texan People to gain their independence from Mexico.

Like The Maine, Pearl Harbor, The Buring of Washington, and 9-1-1, never forget…Remember The Alamo.

…”You could use a makeover.” really a nice thing to say?

Not even if your best friend says it. 

C’mon, be nice out there.

While shopping the other day, at one of her favorite stores, and one where she drops a lot of cash, a friend of mine was looking at purses.

Now, since I’ve carried the same wallet since 1987, I’m sure I’ll never understand the need for women to change purses with every season.  And back in the day, my Mother changed them with every outfit.  But, it happens.  Birds start chirping, leaves start budding, and that “old” black purse you got for Christmas is just “not in season”, so it’s time for a new Spring-looking one.

And that’s ok.

During the course of her shopping spree, she said to the 17 year-following-too-closely-on-commission-sales clerk, “I need a purse makeover!”

Aforementioned teen replied, “Yeah, you could use a make-over, have you thought about high-lights?”

Buzzers rang, bells went off, alarms sounded, and my friend realized, “We’re not talking about purses anymore!”

This one simple question set off a nuclear chain reaction of angst, self-doubt, body image introspection, and general EMO level depression.

It was almost as bad as listening to My Checmical Romance. 

And this deep abyss of doubt lasted for days. 

Over the next few days and weeks reassurances were heaped upon said friend by husband, family, and friends alike, but the damage was done.  The b#####y little Botique Betty had slipped the shiv and bent the blade.  It was criminal, cruel, and calous.  There was no turning back. 

So, dear child behind the counter at the Gap, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and Pandora – think before you talk – it might make the take-home pay better! 

Afterall, as she passed the first shop on her way back to her car, she held up her new and very expensive purse…you know, the one she didn’t by there!